Centaur Information and Mythology | Page 1 | The Meadow | Guild Forums

Lilith Orion

Offline

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 7:18 am

These archives are our legends, myths about us, and myths from other races.

Post anything you find here.

Archive one: Definition of a Greek Centaur--any of a race of creatures fabled to be half human and half horse and to live in the mountains of Thessaly

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:28 pm

According to Greek mythology, Centaurs were said to be the offspring of Ixion, son of Ares, and a cloud. They had the chest, arms and head of a man but the legs and lower half of a horse. (In later myths and stories they sometimes had horns, wings or both.)
These Man-Horse creatures lived in Thessaly, fed on meat and were given to riotous revelries.
They came to symbolize the dark, unruly forces of nature.

MaegIin

Offline

Dreamy Fairies

Offline

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 4:27 pm

The majority of mythology says the folowing:
Centaurs were notorious for their frequent violations of women, and many centaurs gave in to temptation and turned to rape. An example recorded in legend is the story of the centaur Nessus, who attempted to rape Deianeira, wife of Heracles. However, she was more than capable of defending herself, and managed to kill the centaur. In his dying moments, Nessus appeared remorseful and gave Deianeira a potent love drug, which she soaked her husband's tunic in. However, the potion was really poison and caused Heracles so much agony that he preferred to burn himself to death.

Although the majority of centaurs were violent and disagreeable, two were different. The first, Cheiron, was a scholar who sought harmony in nature and subsequently learned many things about music, medicine, war and other disciplines not normally associated with centaurs. His fame spread, and he became tutor to Apollo, who later became one of the Olympians. He also suggested to Peleus that the Goddess Thetis would make a good wife. She resisted the marriage but eventually succumbed, their union producing many children, of whom only Achilles survived.

The other good centaur was Pholos, who welcomed Heracles when he visited, giving him a feast. When the hero asked for wine, Pholos opened a jar of wine owned by all the centaurs and gave it to Heracles. However, the other centaurs smelled the wine and attacked the cave. During the fight many were wounded - including Cheiron. The good centaur was wounded so badly that he cursed his immortality and longed to die. His cries were heard by Prometheus, who offered to swap his own death for the centaur's immortality. The centaur accepted and died, leaving Prometheus to live eternally.